OSU By The Numbers • 1: Turnovers created by the Buckeyes over the last two games, despite being on the field for 174 snaps. • 2: Times Brady Hoke has lost in 19 home games as Michigan coach, including Saturday’s 42-41 loss to the Buckeyes. • 7.8: Yards per carry this season by Carlos Hyde. • 8: Touchdowns Braxton Miller has accounted for in two games in The Big House. • 22: Average yards on Braxton Miller’s six pass completions vs. Michigan. • 24: Consecutive wins by the Buckeyes, extending their school record. • 40: Braxton Miller’s completion percentage (6 of 15 passing) against the Wolverines. • 42: Points OSU and Michigan combined for in the first half, more than scored in any game of this rivarly during the “Ten-Year War” from 1969-78. • 82: Plays run Saturday by Michigan, 21 more than the Buckeyes. • 226: Yards rushing Saturday by Carlos Hyde, breaking Beanie Wells’ 2007 school record in this rivalry by four yards. • 286: Total offensive yards on Saturday by Braxton Miller, who accounted for five touchdowns.

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The microphone in front of Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer kept cutting out, making it hard to hear everything he was saying after Saturday’s crazy win at Michigan.

I can tell you what he didn’t say. As much as he might have felt like it, he didn’t use the words “@#%*!!!” or “@$#??” to describe his defense.

I’m guessing everyone at home listening to the live feed had trouble deciphering Meyer’s comments too, so as a public service I now offer you some what I heard and what I thought I heard as focus shifts to Saturday’s Big Ten Championship Game against Michigan State in Indianapolis. A win would likely advance the unbeaten Buckeyes to the national championship game at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 6.

What do you think Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler would have thought about the 42-41 shootout?

What Meyer said: “You know what I think? ... (inaudible)

What I think he said: “Woody and Bo would be hugging the toilet. Why did either team even bother dressing a punter for this game? We acted like we had never seen a throwback screen or option pitch, and the only thing we adjusted on defense was our jock straps.

Was it more what Michigan did or what the Buckeyes didn’t do?

What Meyer said: “I’m not sure I saw the same (Michigan) team that struggled the last few games ... (inaudible)

What I think he said: “What I did see was the same lousy defense I’ve seen far too many times this season, and as far as I know Zach Boren won’t be walking into our locker room at Lucas Oil Stadium next weekend to help us. I don’t blame Coach Choke ... er, Hoke, for going for two at the end. We couldn’t stop ’em. It’s like they had a whole lineup of Timmy Biakabutukas.”

What’s the plan going forward?

What Meyer said: “I’m going to let these guys enjoy it, but they get it ... (inaudible)

What I think he said: “Oh, they’re going to get it, all right. We gave up over 600 yards of offense to a team that almost lost to Akron and UConn, for cripe sakes. We didn’t attempt a field goal because I’m afraid they would have returned it 109 yards for a touchdown. Being the offensive savant that I am, I should be Big Ten Coach of the Year because I not only have to game plan against the opposing defense but figure out a way to negate our own defense. There aren’t enough hours in the day.”

The good news for an Ohio State defense quickly running out of salve for its wounds is that nobody is using the words “vaunted” or “juggernaut” to describe Michigan State’s offense. I mean, how scary can your offense be when hidebound former OSU aide Jim Bollman is part of the braintrust?

That said, the 11-1 Spartans scored over 40 points three times in Big Ten play and outscored Michigan and Northwestern, two teams that gave OSU fits, by a collective margin of 59-12. Sophomore quarterback Connor Cook has settled in after emerging from an early-season quarterback derby to toss 17 touchdowns, with only four interceptions. Jeremy Langford hasn’t gotten a lot of acclaim, but he’s rushed for 1,210 yards and leads all Big Ten running backs with 16 rushing touchdowns.

The big question is: Can Cook and Langford out-duel Ohio State’s dynamic duo of quarterback Braxton Miller and tailback Carlos Hyde? Michigan State’s defense, statisically the best in the nation, will obviously have something to say about that.

Whatever the reason, Miller has not been a precision passer the last three games. It was easy to blame the wind at Illinois and the snow against Indiana in the ’Shoe, but how do you explain Saturday’s 6 of 15 showing in The Big House? Is Miller seriously thinking about turning pro and pressing because he knows that’s the part of the game where he needs to prove himself?

Fortunately, there’s nothing wrong with Miller’s feet. He’s running as well as ever, maybe even better than before he was sidelined for three games by a knee sprain. His footwork, from the perspective of this Heisman Trophy voter, was part of a five-touchdown performance by him Saturday and has danced him right back into the Heisman discussion.

Hyde, whose 226 yards rushing against Michigan was a school record in the series, might be neck-and-neck with Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston in the Heisman race if not for the three-game suspension he served at the outset of the season for an incident with a girl in a Columbus nightspot

Project his 143-yard average over 12 games and Hyde would have 1,720 yards rushing for one of the only two undefeated teams left from power conferences. He’d be flirting with the school’s single-season mark of 1,927 set by 1995 Heisman winner Eddie George.

But we’ve probably reached the stage of the season where 12-0 Ohio State can no longer rely on outscoring the other team, especially if they have designs on playing for a national championship Jan. 6.

Can a team that has lost the turnover battle 5-1 over the last two weeks extend its winning streak to 25 games?

Can a team whose defense has been on the field an alarming 174 plays the last two games keep the Buckeyes in BCS title contention?

Can defensive coordinator Luke Fickell match wits with Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio, the Buckeyes’ D coordinator when they won the national championship in 2002?